Apparently City of Learners is a program (with vague goals) to promote education that was started up by Mayor Whaley and Immaculate Conception School was one of a couple Catholic schools that are participating as sites for “listening sessions.” (Chaminade Julienne High School was selected as the site for the listening session for “private school issues.”) Immaculate is the site for “east side neighborhoods.” The committee of City of Learner participants is a list of “who’s who” for the Dayton area.

For a moment, I imagine myself in the role of someone who has the authority to decide what messages get placed on the letter-board next to the road in front of the Catholic school. Then I imagine putting a ‘welcome’ to one of those names- Whaley, Pelosi, Sebelius, etc. on the sign in front of my Catholic school on one of the most prominent roads in the eastern half of the city. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting by any means that the school should not participate in the program or that the school shouldn’t be polite to the Mayor or even that they couldn’t put up a welcome of some sort to the program and its “listeners” on their sign, but to go to the extent of including the “WELCOME MAYOR WHALEY…” on their prominent sign, was just too much, given the positions she advocates. So am I to guess that the person who is responsible for the letter board sign was just unaware of all the Mayor’s public positions or were those public positions the reason her name got included on the sign out front? I guess I should just be thankful they didn’t give her an honorary degree, right?